Dot hack G.U. Vol. 2: Kimi Omou Koe

NEW GAME.....Start a new adventure - possible to load save data from G.U. Vol. 1 at the first prompt that appears
DATA LOAD....Resume a game from memory card 1 or 2
OPTION.......Adjust display, set sound volume, toggle vibration, toggle cursor memory, camera type

» Upon starting a new game, a voice over and static screens recap the events of G.U. Vol. 1 starting with Haseo's defeat and subsequent revenge against his oppressor. Afterwards a girl named Atori with blonde hair under a bonnet may be seen lying in darkness. She calls out for Haseo and the scene fades before she wakes up to the sound of Haseo's crying her name. She has a panic attack of sorts when she realizes that she can't log out and the scene changes to a virtual scene where black snake-like streams streak towards her and penetrate her abdomen. As this happens, black bubbles may be seen around her. She faints and slowly falls to the floor as the black jets of substance rush back into the receptacle from whence they came. Haseo screams and rushes to Atori and tries to resuscitate her without much success until his friend steps in...

» Once control is handed over to the player, Haseo can shift into bike mode by pressing the SQUARE button followed by the X button to accelerate. The controls while biking are good and Bandai added a sort of drift mode to the bike's mechanics where pushing down on the L-analog while zooming along will send Haseo into a sideways drift. Sort of. With the bike, great distances can be traversed in a relatively short amount of time compared to hoofing it. The throb of the bike's engine also appears to have been sampled from an actual motorbike along with the squeal of the tires when sliding. To brake the bike, press the SQUARE button.

» The controls feel peppy and the characters move briskly in the game.

» Merchants in G.U. Vol. 2 are reminiscent of Vivi of Final Fantasy fame except they wear more billowing and colorful costumes.

» Four teleportation points are scattered in the N-S-W-E ends of the city and they allow porting to any of the other three. They are designated by blue counterclockwise rolling circles on the map.

» The initial town that Haseo starts out in is fairly drab but teleport in the N portal into the area of a Japanese themed manse with pagodas in the background and marvel at the magnificence of the rendered structure and brightly lit windows. Move the R-Analog to shift the camera upwards and check out the darkening light-blue sky as wispy clouds slowly churn across it. The faint glimmer of stars may be seen behind the clouds. There's a bridge that may be crossed and little lit boxes rest on the side of the bridge's rails to illuminate the local area. Lanterns on stalks also dot the pathways and the big moon may be seen in the sky as well. It's a magical scene and our description can't do it justice. Sadly, we're not allowed to cap video due to possible copyright issues.